Permanent Fund picks new partner for D.C.-area mall

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. plans to take on a new partner in a shopping center it owns in McLean, Va., the corporation said.

The corporation reached a joint venture agreement with Wilmorite Properties Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., to manage the Tysons Corner Center.

The two sides expect to close on the agreement by June 30, said Mark Foerster, Wilmorite executive vice president. The fund corporation will retain 56.5 percent ownership of the mall, said the corporation's spokesman Jim Kelly.

Tysons Corner Center is a 2 million-square-foot shopping center in the Washington D.C. area that includes as tenants Bloomingdale's, L.L. Bean, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom and J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

The corporation previously owned the mall with L&B Realty of Dallas. That company had planned to sell its share in the property, Kelly said.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. chose not to increase its ownership in the mall and searched for a suitable partner, Kelly said.

Wilmorite was chosen because it didn't have interests that could compete with Tysons Corner, Kelly said. Wilmorite owns and manages 13 regional malls and two open-air shopping centers.

The shopping center has produced about 9 percent in annual returns on investment and the corporation hopes to increase that to 10 percent, Kelly said.

The corporation's real estate holdings, valued at $2.7 billion, accounted for 11 percent of the $25 billion fund, according to the most recent reports.

Among its holdings, the corporation is part owner in the Frontier Building in Anchorage and the Plaza Port West Shopping Center in Ketchikan. The corporation also owns the Goldbelt Building in Juneau.